Corn harvester



Aug. 8, 1939 H. J.. KUHLMAN CORN HARVESTER Filed Au 28, 19:56

2 Sheets-Sheet l g- 3, 1939 I H; J. KLJH/LMAN 2,169,070

CORN HAHVESTER Filed Aug. 2's, 1936 2 Sheets-$heet 2 W n J. X127: 27:10:71,

A 46 1 ttorne'g Patented Aug. 8, 1939 UNITED" STATES- PATENT OFFICE v CORN HARVESTEB Henry J. Kuhlman, Waterloo, Iowa, assiguor to Kuhlman Manufacturing Company, Waterloo, Iowa, a corporation of Iowa Application August 28, 1936, Serial No. 98,305

. 4 Claims.' (Cl. 130-5) My invention relatesto improvements in corn .harvesters, and a prime object of my improvements is to provide in, a machine of this class, coacting related means for gathering corn stalks 5 planted in a row into alinement for separated treatments, then acting particularly upon their ears in succession andseparately to practically simultaneously strip their husks downwardly while separating their ears at the same'time from their stems within the downwardly moving husks, de-

livering the ears free from their husks lengthwise and carrying them hence along and to a place of delivery. q

A special feature of said improvements is to combine in coacting operation with a pair of stripping andsnapping rolls, means for gathering and alining the stalks in a row within the machine for delivery to ear stripping and snapping delivery rolls in treating the ears separately and in succession as stated, and in associating with said gathering means and rolls an auxiliary means for transporting and strippedsnapped ears to a place of delivery, suchas a following 1 vehicle or otherwise.

7 Another specialieatureof this invention is to provide the rolls. with triple spiral threads so spaced and relatively located that each alined stalk can be treated singly during the-fforward progress of the machine along a row. While the rotary speed of the rolls is properly coordinated to the longitudinal forward movement of the machine, which causes the stalk to be kept upright while under treatment in all of its stages up to and u'ntil'the machine has released the stripped and treated stalk and its ears.

another special feature is the arrangement and construction and relativepositioning of the rolls, which permits them to act upon the alined stalks and then upon the ears in a manner to'-' prepare 40 the ears'for being husked whilesimultaneously,

snapped for delivery to the rear.

Another object of my improvements is to furnish a pair of rolls of a peculiar a'nd eiiicient con-v structionf and coaction which will permit them to reliably guide the alined stalks therebetween while grasping them effectively as also their ears in a manner closely resembling hand stripping of transported by auxiliary mechanism to the rear part of the machine for delivery there as-entlrely stripped of husks, in alined succession, and without the need for other or auxiliary special mechanisms for thereafter husking or otherwise treating the already husked ears. 5 Another object of my improvements'is to supply adjustable carrying structures for the above mentioned mechanisms, including ways or ramps suitable for the placing of the husked ears therealong and toward a place of deposit, together with 10 suitable mechanisms coacting in moving the rolls relatively to each other and in associatively guiding the stalks being treated and the ears under said operations toward the place of deposit.

Other improvements will be hereinafter par- 15 ticularly adverted to, and described as to their related functions.

It is to be understood, that various alterations or substitutions may be eil'ected in anyor all of said structures and mechanisms, without thereby 20 departing from this invention or from the meaning, purposes and scope of the appended claims.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a top plan of the said coacting mechanisms of my machine, aside from means for forward propulsion thereof and for 25 I driving said mechanisms. Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof, including tractor means and driving connections. Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail plan of theforward parts of the rolls, with parts broken away, and Fig. 5 is awtragmentary view of the 30 spiralled front part of one roll. Flg.- 4 is a cross section of the spirally threaded part of one'roll.

Figs. 6 and 7 are diagrammatic views showing the means for performing the above operations.

In the state of this art, it is well known that 35 no corn harvester has yet been invented or patented which comprises in its associated mechanlsms and other structures means which coact in due and alined succession and by simple coordinated elementswhlch aline and separately treat 40 from the car by snapping of the stem of the ear within the basal part of the enwrapped husks, so. that no further or other treatment is necessary upon the husked ear as thus snapped, while being unwrapped from the husks and delivered rearwardly during the progressiveforward movement 55 of transporting the machine to and fro may be used other than those shown herein, and also 1 that the details of the rolls and their coordinated respective stalk and ear treating means may be varied while remaining within my invention.

Referring first to Figs. 1 and 2, the numeral 8 denotes the frame structure of a tractor, with its engine 68, and having directive means for a removable prow l9 thereon, consisting of a shaft II with hand-wheel It, gearing 12 for swinging the forward wheels ll to and fro, the prow having a forward upwardly curved finger 8| as is usual in said machines. Upon a rigid post 13 on the tractor frame 60 is suspended a coiled spring 15 which is connected to an arch I4 with side members secured rigidly to side frame parts of.

the harvesterproper.

The rear part of the tractor has power-driven rear wheels 62 with axle SI. On the axle is supported adjustably upon the frame 68 a casting 60 having a standard mounted adjustably upon its upper part containing a bearing seat for a rotary shaft 31 which traverses a frame hanger of a corn harvester frame adjustably, and this shaft l1 is driven by the engine 69 of the tractor 68 by means not shown. The shaft 31 is also mounted in bearings on the basal part of the harvester as indicated by the dotted lines thereof in Fig. 1. On the shaft 3! is a sprocket-wheel not shown and a like sprocket-wheel BI on its hither side, the first-mentioned carrying a sprocket-chain which is passed around a sprocket-wheel on a shaft 61 mounted adjustably in bearings in brackets 66 which carry a hopper 65 to the rear of and below the rear of the apron 32, which is inclined toward it, and serving to deliver husked ears of corn to the hopper and into an upwardly inclined longitudinally directed chute i4 having side walls as at I, and which as usual contains propelling means therein to propel the ears tothe rear elevated end of the chute to be delivered into a following truck, see Fig. 2. The outer sprocketwheel ii on the shaft 31 carries a chain 52 which is also carried around a sprocket-wheel 54 on a 'shaft driven by said engine by means not shown, and on this latter shaft is also mounted a gear-' wheel not shown which meshes with a like gearwheel on another stub-shaft on the tractor frame, which latter stub-shaft carries a sprocket-wheel 55. The latter carries the forward end part of a chain 56 which drives a sprocket-wheel on a transverse shaft 51 extending through the elevator body 64. the shaft 51 being removably supported in bearings in the upper ends of standards 58 on the rear parts of horizontal brackets 59' fixed on the lower ends of the hanger-parts 60. This arrangement of gearing and sprocket-wheels is contrived to drive the shaft 51 with its upper ear-propelling reach movable rearwardly, by reversing the direction of drive from the shaft 31.

-The frame members of the harvester body at the sides 3 are mounted pivotally on said shaft 31 at a short distance forward of the rear end of the frame, permitting the frame 3'in front to be tilted adjustably up or down to a desired extent. It will be seen that the frame is resiliently suspended in advance of the shaft 31 by the spring 15 connected between the standard I3 on the tractor frame 68 and the arched member 14 which crosses the harvester body 3' transversely and rigidly. This feature is to be shown and claimed in a companion application for patent to be filed.

The forward end of the body I is inclined downwardly and terminates in'a prow or fender 45 which is somewhat similar in its construction to the fender or prow 18 on the forward end of the tractor, the latter prow having a fixed cover 80 at its top into which the prow I9 may be tiltably adjusted and held by means not shown when desired, as in traversing uneven road-beds.

The prow or fender 45 has a terminal forward upcurved finger 46, and both fingers ll and 46 are useful in overriding small obstacles in the way. The fender 45 may be adjustably mounted on either or both of the forward side frames of the harvester, Fig. 1 showing on one a swingably adjustable plate 40 pivoted at 4| to the frame, and at its forward end upon which the fender is mounted an adjustable connection in a slot 43 in the plate with a bolt 44 is shown to hold the prow part at 42 'swingably movable from side to side as necessary in t he use of the prow in the primary gathering of fallen or lodged corn stalks at one side.

Referring again to said Fig. 1, the numerals I and 2 denote rolls mounted in juxtaposition along the medial longitudinal line of the harvester frame or body 3, and over a separation space between its side parts. The forward end of the roll 2 extends a short distance forward of the forward end of the other roll I, but said rolls have spirally threaded forward extensions t and 1 respectively, whose conically diminished dorward ends to are hollowed to loosely seat therein the rearwardly bent arms I fixed on the frame.

The forward parts 6 and 1 of the rolls I and 2 terminate at their forward ends is in the same transverse line. Referring to Figs. 3, 4 and 5, it will be seen in the cross section of Fig.4. that both rolls 6 and I have a like cross section, but reversed relatively to each other as shown in Fig. 3, as to their like but reversed spiral threads 6a and Ia separated by relatively wide conc'avities. As shown in Fig. '7. the rolls I and 2 turn upwardly and inwardly toward each other as indicated by the arrows. This arrangement of the forward parts of the threads permits a wide inclination thereof rearwardly as shown in Fig. 4, and these parts of the rolls are thus designed to allow a stalk of corn as shown at a in Fig. 3 tobe held upright while the harvester and tractor are traveling ahead as the rolls are geared together at their rear ends to permit them to make each a single rotation of their triple threads while the tractor is traveling forward a related scientifically computed distance. The result of this is the permitting of the harvester rolls rotating in a manner and at a determined relative speed to the speed of the machine ahead, that when the rolls have arrived at a stalk a as shown in Fig. 3 they are in relative positions to allow the hollows of the rolls which are opposite each other to receive between them the stalk a, and this related speed of rotation and movement forward of the harvester rolls is such-that the stalk a is usually touched by either or both of the rotating rolls while the harvester is forging ahead, but the stalk is prevented from tilting in any direction away from the vertical and is thus ready to be acted upon by the rear parts of the threads on the rolls in this position and spaced more nearly together in their interspaces as shown at 6b and lb, where the angles of the threads are greater. These rear thread parts 6b and lb as shown in Fig. 3, are so placed that there are fewer turns to the thread parts lb than those of the parts 6b,

and the thread parts lb are with fewerturns and 76 amaoro This arrangement of the threads at b and lb 1 results in contracting the interspace between these threads on said rolls especially at the offset forward part of the bodies of the rolls I and 2.

Referring to Fig. 7, which is a transverse section of the rolls I and 2, both rolls are of the same construction, to the rear of the spirally threaded parts 5 and I. The rolls I and 2 are of the same diameter, the roll 2 being longer, and each roll comprises a tubular core 4 within a steel sleeve 5, the latter having cemented thereon a resilient or elastically compressible sectional rubber covering,

but the rear end part of the roll 2 is not covered outer end has a clutch-connection 33 with its loose sprocket-wheel 3| which is kept in engagement yieldably with the clutch by a spring engaging an end stop ring 36 on the shaft.

Alongside the inner reaches of .side sprocket- 'chains I2 which move rearwardly, are the spiraled members 6 and l of the rolls I and 2 respectively.

The forward parts of these chains are around like small sprocket-wheels I4 on fixed studs I5 on the forward ends of the frame 3, and their rear parts are round and driven by upper and larger sprocket-wheels III mounted on rotaryspindles 8 on whose lower parts are fixed to also rotate therewith smaller sprocket-wheels II. These sprockets II carry the forward ends of other like sprocket-chains I9, the-rear ends of the chains I9 being mounted around rear smaller sprocketwheels Illa fixed on vertical rotary shafts I8 rotatable in bearings III, and driven by bevel-gearing not shown, as the various driving means referred to are not claimed specifically but are reserved for a companion application. 0n the shaft 21 is a sprocket-wheel 30 carrying a sprocket-chain 28 which drives the shaft 21 from the rear sprocketwheels 29. The inner reaches of the chains I! move rearwardly. The pairs of chains I2 and I9 have inner guide bars I6 and 20 respectively within and alongside their inner reaches to keep these reaches straight and taut while in operation and also to maintain their'shape at places.

Both of the forward pair of chains I2 have spaced apart rigid fingers ii on certain of their links and slightly terminaliyrecurved, while both of the rear pair of chains I! have similar rigid fingers 2t spaced more widely apart but not terminally recurved. The forward pair of chains II moving reaches above and'sweeping along over 'the spiraled roll parts 6 and I. The fingers 2| similarly sweep over the rear rubber covered parts of the rolls I and 2 and also therebeyond over a bottom plate II whose rear end delivers husked ears 0 downwardly over the inclined member 22 of I the plate to the hopper' i5 and thence to the elevator trough 84 andjiits inclosed endless chain v having transverse scrapers thereon as usual but? along due to their r ar upward inclination rin s wardly at 3Ia between the not shown. The forward end ofthe plate 3|, as shown in Fig. 6 extends forwardly over the rolls gearing and with its front margin bent down- .1

rear ends of the rolls and said gearing pair at 2 2.

The power shift 31 with'connected driving connections III, 28 and 28 heretofore described rotate be covered by a wire netting 49 (Fig. 2) to we I stalk as at a in Fig. 3, so that the opposed troughs the rear pair of sprocket-wheels ll reversely, the chains I! rotating the lower sprocket-wheels II, and the common shaft 3 with the upper sprocketwheels I. and moving the forward pair of chains I2 as described. It is to be noted that the forward parts of the bodies of the spiral y threaded rolls 6 and I are substantially cylindrically constructed, and that the shorter rear parts of these rolls areconic frusta with threads spiralled at a er's seat is not shown in Fig. 2 or the other figures,

but is tojthe rear of the hand-wheel 10, and the rear end part of the body 3 and its side walls may vent any husked ears from'escapingor jumping out. While a one row harvester only is shown as propelled and actuated by means of the tractor 88, it is obvious that another may be likewise associated and actuated by the tractor for two rows, without departing from the invention.

Operation When the harvester shown in Figs. 1 and 2 is moved forwardly at ta predetermined rate of speed, to cause the forward fenders 45 and the forward parts of thechains I2 to straddle a row of hllled corn stalks evenly spaced as usual, as shown in Figs. 3 and 6 the roll forward spiralled members 6 and I receive between them an erect or valleys opposite each other inclose the outer opposite sides of the stalk either in or out of direct contact therewith. It will be seen that the stalk thus assumes a vertical position in every case, and during the travel of the pair of rolls thereby throughout their extent until the rear threaded conic frusta at 8b has advanced to the stalk a. As the spiral threads 6b on these conic frusta are more closely spaced that the forward spirals and at a greater angle to the axes of the rolls respectively the further advance'of the machine causes these threads 6b to seize upon opposite sides of the stalk with a crushing and flattening effect as shown at'al deforming it as the machine further advances, and this effect is enhanced when the forwardly oil'set rubber covered endof the roll 2 crowds the stalk yet more compressively between the frustal threads of the roll part 8 and the rubber wall of the offset part of the roll 2 as stated. so that as the machine progresses the stalk is flattened as indicated at al in Fig. 3. the elastic covers of the rolls compressing and yieldably grasping thestalk and husks of an car as shown in said figure, so that the flattened stalk aI is in. effect manipulated as if by the muscular flesh manipulation of two human hands grasping the stalk between them while the rolls move along forwardly and the inclination of the rolls mounts along the stalk.

Turning now to Fig. 6, which is of a diagrammatic character, the further progress of the rolls over and along the stalk as they mount thereto the rolls the relative position to the stalk a where the rolls have climbed to engage between them the butt end of a'husk covered ear b, as the rolls also seize upon the stem a3 of the earbelow its husk b. It is obvious, that the ear I) of the stalk a has in this forward progress of the machine been progressively lifted to an erect position i cases, by the progressive action of the fingers I! on the forward chains, and later by the riding of the rolls over the stalk. This action of the chains l2 and their fingers l3 terminates just before the machine has moved to actually grip the lower part of the encasing husks b of the ear 0. The rear chains with their similar fingers now operate on the ears in turn as above treated and especially upon the severance of the butt of an ear within the husks b. as also displayed in Fig. 7, where the flattening of the stalk at al is shown best. It is well known, that an ear of corn as incased by its husks b is supported on a short stem a3 on the stalk a, the stem a3 carrying the husks and penetrating therethrough to its connection with the base of the cob of the ear 0.

The ear 0 having arrived at this critical position as related to the inwardly rotating rolls l and 2 which are because of their inclination riding upwardly along the stalk a and the ear stem 113, it is obvious that farther progress forwardly of the rolls and their inward rotation coupled by their grasping eiTect because of elastic compression at that location on the covers of the rolls, will cause this elastic cover to exert a creeping pull upon the basal parts of the husks, and

as the relatively thick and rigid ear 6 cannot be drawn between the rolls, the stem 03 parts between the husks b and the base of the ear at 112' (Figs. 6 and 7), whereby the husks are as'by the grasp of a pair of fleshy human hands pulled away .from the ear downwardly and below the rolls, leaving the husked ear above and in the trough of the rolls, whence the ear is propelled up the incline of the rolls as shown at c in Fig. 6, where any fragments of undivested husks are seized by the striations 22 and the elastically yielding cover of the opposite roll, and removed. The ear is then propelled upon .and along the upwardly inclined plate 3| uninterruptedly, as the forward end of the plate bent down at Ma oifers no impediment there. The ear is carried by the chain fingers to and delivered to the hopper 65 and elevator chute 64.

Fig. 6 shows the progressive stages of the above operation, from start to finish. An ear under treatment cannot escape from any stage of the operation, as the forward prows 45 together with the fingered chains l2 gather between them not only ere'ct stalks, but inclined or prostrate ones.

guiding them to the erect position where, as shown in Fig. 3, these mechanisms advance and treat each stalk serially without evasion, and progressively flatten a part of each stalk where it can be compressed between the yieldable elastic roll covers until the inclined rolls grasp the stalk and also strip the husks downwardly from the ear between the rolls as simultaneously the stem a3 is forced to part within the husks at a2, the ear riding up the rolls as stated as the husks disappear below.

Each of the above described new features of the machine thus contribute to the undeviating as from a hanging position on the stalk in some a certain stage of its forward progress and at the '-instant when the rolls are operating in simultaneously snapping and husking an ear. It will be seen that the second stalk a from the right or front has its ear b, as yet unhusked, placed in an upright position ready to be husked on the farther progress of the machine. This is due to a propulsion rearwardly .by a chain tooth it moving rearwardly. The first stalk to the front shows an unhusked ear depending to the front. Another chain tooth I3 is engaging its stalk a as the machine moves forward with its roll threads inclosing the stalk therebetween, and as the machine progresses the tooth l3 lifts the hanging ear to a raised position as in the second stalk. The further progress, of the machine then causes the rolls to act on the stalk and ear as already stated, so that the driver is free to drive ahead, the machine being thus entirely automatic in its said progressive functions.

Referring again to Figs. 6 and '7, it will be seen that in sequence the stalks a are seized between therubber covered rolls I and 2, and that as the and to each ear b when the ears are brought to and kept at this angle by means of the projections or fingers on the inner reaches of the traveling chains I! in turn as they move rearwardly, whereby the ears in turn, when the rolls have reached the butt of an unhusked car on its stem a3, the inturning elastic roll covers grasp, like an opposed pair of fleshy human hands, the attached lower ends of the husks b, thus'with drawing the husks downwardly between the rolls, and as the rounded butt of the ear in this angular position to the rolls cannot also be drawn down likewise therebetween, the stem a3 of the ear is ruptured between the butt of the ear and the attachments of the husks to the stem, the break fingers in positioning the butt of each unhusked ear in the valley of the rolls causes the unfailing simultaneous withdrawing or husking of the ear husks while breaking the ear stem at at a! wholly within the husks.

I claim:

1. In a corn harvester, a snapping roll having a helical groove extending rearwardly from its forward end, the rear end portion of the groove being reduced in pitch and depth, and the major and forward portion of the groove being of un'i form pitch and depth.

2. In a corn harvester, a snapping roll having a helical groove extending rearwardly from its forward end, the rear end portion of the groove being continuously reduced in pitch and depth,

and the major and forward portion of the groove being of uniform pitch and depth.

3. In a corn harvester, a pair of coacting oppositely rotatable gathering, snapping and husking rolls having their forward parts oppositely threaded at the same pitch for a like distance rearwardly and reversely with the rear ends of the threads oflset, and the rear parts of the opposed threads progressively decreased in pitch and gradually oifset relatively to each other to gradually lessen the width and the depth of their troughs, whereby alined stalks are traversed between the rolls when advancing, and gradually compressed between the rolls in a zone of both rolls where the threads are oflset and then frictionally grasped movably by the rolls and therebetween, to engage the butts of ears on the stalks, sever the stems of the ears within the husks and expel the ears from the husks while the husks are being-withdrawn between the rolls. 4. In a corn harvester, a pair of coacting oppositely rotatable gathering, snapping and husklng rolls having their forward parts oppositely threaded at the same pitch for a like distance rearwardly with the rear ends of the threads oil'- set; the rear parts of the opposed, threads prothe width and the depth of their troughs, the rolls being rearwardly inclined to ride upwardly on alined stalks, the rear parts of the rolls having rubber covers secured thereon, and whereby at the region of the forward end parts of the covers and of the. changing pitch of the threads, the

stalks are gradually compressed therebetween, and when engaging the butt of an ear on astalk, the yielding palmar grasp of the forward parts of the rubber covers against the husks terminally ruptures the stem oi. an ear within the husks while withdrawing the denuded husks downwardly between the rolls undetached from the stalk without uprooting the stalk and while expelling the ear from the hunks.

HENRY J. KUHIMAN. 

